Eldritch Hunter, Variant (5e Class)

Eldritch Hunter Variant

A halfling man walks in the Underdark sneaking into a mindflayer colony.

A human woman hunts the witch who been living in this village for the last few years.

From Light and Darkness

The Eldritch Hunter is a holy wanderer. But unlike a priest or a paladin, you will not see an Eldritch Hunter preaching or flashing their holy symbol around. They walk the thin line between light and dark. They go places normal people would not dare tread. They want to purge the world of eldritch horrors (mind flayer, beholder, chuul, and so on) and those who gain power by making deals with them (witches, warlocks, hags, and so on). In the name of their god and the welfare of the world they use magic, sword, and gun bring light to the dark places in the world.

Creating an Eldritch Hunter

How did they end up specializing in hunting the creatures they are sworn to destroy? Was it something they were born into? Are their family eldritch hunters and trained them into it? Was it something they discovered later in life? Did they lose a friend or family to one of these horrors and swore vengeance? Were they hunted by one of these horrors, until they turned the tables on it?

What made them start adventuring? Did they decide to do it for the fun of it? Is there a creature they are on the trail of? Are they perhaps still on the run from a creature? All these questions are lead to better understanding your character and their motivations.

Quick Build

You can make an Eldritch Hunter quickly by following these suggestions. First, Wisdom should be your highest ability score, followed by Intelligence and Dexterity. Second, choose the acolyte background. Third choose a longsword, a gun, leather armor and a dungeoneer's pack for your starting equipment in addition to anything granted by your background.

Class Features

As a Eldritch Hunter you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per Eldritch Hunter level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + Constitution modifier per Eldritch Hunter level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: Light, medium
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons, firearms*
Tools: Tinker’s tools
Saving Throws: Wisdom, Intelligence
Skills: Choose three from Athletics, Acrobatics, Insight, Investigation, Perception and Stealth

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) Any 2 simple weapons or (b) Any Martial weapon
• (a) A shortbow with 20 arrows or (b) 10 darts or (c) Gun with 20 bullets (Special Equipment Below)
• (a) leather armor or (b) Hide armor
• (a) An explorer's pack or (b) A dungeoneer's pack
• Tinker’s Tools and Holy Symbol
• If you are using starting wealth, you have 3d4 x 10 gp in funds.

Table: The Eldritch Hunter

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features	Movement Speed	—Spell Slots per Spell Level—
				1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
1st	+2	Gunsmith, Reloading, Spellcasting, Favored Enemy	+5 ft.	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+2	Hunters Training, Quick Draw	+5 ft.	2	—	—	—	—
3rd	+2	Hunter Specialty, Turn Aberration	+5 ft.	3	—	—	—	—
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement	+5 ft.	3	—	—	—	—
5th	+3	Destroy Aberration, Hunter’s Grit	+5 ft.	4	2	—	—	—
6th	+3	Marked, Arcane Weapon	+5 ft.	4	2	—	—	—
7th	+3	Mental Condition	+5 ft.	4	3	—	—	—
8th	+3	Ability Score Improvement	+10 ft.	4	3	—	—	—
9th	+4	Headshot	+10 ft.	4	3	2	—	—
10th	+4	Arm Shot	+10 ft.	4	3	2	—	—
11th	+4	Hunter’s Grit	+10 ft.	4	3	3	—	—
12th	+4	Ability Score Improvement	+10 ft.	4	3	3	—	—
13th	+5	Hidden	+10 ft.	4	3	3	1	—
14th	+5	Wings Shot	+15 ft.	4	3	3	1	—
15th	+5	Arcane Shot	+15 ft.	4	3	3	2	—
16th	+5	Ability Score Improvement	+15 ft.	4	3	3	2	—
17th	+6	Hunter’s Training	+15 ft.	4	3	3	3	1
18th	+6	True Hunter	+15 ft.	4	3	3	3	1
19th	+6	Ability Score Improvement	+15 ft.	4	3	3	3	2
20th	+6	Hunters Grit	+15 ft.	4	3	3	3	2

*Optional Rule: Firearm Proficiency

If your Dungeon Master uses the rules on firearms in chapter 9 of the Dungeon Master's Guide and your eldritch hunter has been exposed to the operations of such weapons, your eldritch hunter is proficient with them.

Gunsmith

At 1st level, you can craft bullets and mix gunpowder for all types of firearms. Besides bullets and gunpowder you can repair a damaged or misfired gun. The tinkers’ tools are required to craft or repair such things.

Firearms Characteristics

The firearms you are able to build have a specific set of characteristics, described bellow. Some of the weapon properties are described in the DMG, under the optional rules about firearms.

Misfire. On a roll of a natural 2 or 3 the gun misfires making the gun useless until it cleared. On a natural 1 the gun breaks and needs time, money, and effort to fix.

Clearing a Gun. On a misfire it takes an action to clear the gun and get it back to being battle ready.

Fixing a Gun. When a natural 1 is rolled the gun breaks beyond the gunfighters ability and can't be fixed on the battlefield. How much time and money needed to fix it is up to the DM. They can also be fixed with the mending cantrip.

Firearms

Corruption Table Name Cost Ammo Damage Weight Range Properties Bayonet 10 gp - 1d6 piercing 1 lb - Special: can be attached to any gun with the "two handed" property. Musket 250 gp 4 1d12 piercing 9 lb Ammunition (100/300), reload (4 shots) two-handed Pistol 125 gp 6 1d10 piercing 4 lb Ammunition (50/200), reload ( 6 shots) Sawed-off 500 gp 2 2d6 piercing 1 lb Burst fire, reload (2 shots), two-handed, Higher Level At 10th level and above You can try to fix your gun when you roll a natural 1. You need to make a tinker's tool check at a DC 15 to fix your gun. On a failed check, the gun breaks more and needs to be fixed in a workshop. Spell Casting Cantrips At 1st level, you know three cantrips of your choice from the cleric spell list. You learn additional cleric cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Cleric table. Preparing and Casting Spells The Eldritch Hunter table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest. You prepare the list of eldritch hunter spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the cleric spell list. When you do so, choose a number of cleric spells equal to your Wisdom modifier + half your eldritch hunter level (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Spellcasting Ability Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your eldritch hunter spells. You use your Wisdom whenever a eldritch hunter spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when Setting the saving throw DC for a eldritch hunter spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one. Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier Spell Attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier Ritual Casting You can cast a eldritch hunter spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared. Spellcasting Focus You can use a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus for your eldritch hunter spells. Domains You gain access to the spells of the additional spell lists from one of the following domains: Light, Protection, Trickery, or War Favored Enemy At 1st level, you have significant experience studying, tracking, hunting, and even talking to a certain types of enemies. You trained to fight aberrations, and you can select two creatures (such as mind flayer and mindwitness) as favored enemies. You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track your favored enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them. When you gain this feature, you also learn one language of your choice that is spoken by your favored enemies, if they speak one at all. You choose one additional favored enemy, as well as an associated language, at 6th and 14th level. As you gain levels, your choices should reflect the types of monsters you have encountered on your adventures. Hunter’s Training At 2nd level, those who train to be an Eldritch Hunters are trained to push back their limits. When others are resting they are drill, in fact compared next to a Eldritch Hunter training, paladin training is a cakewalk. Of the training you are able push yourself beyond your normal limits for a moment. On your turn, you can take one additional action on top of your regular action and a possible bonus action. Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again. Starting at 17th level, you can use it twice before a rest, but only once on the same turn. Quick Draw At 2nd level, one of the greatest weapons Eldritch Hunter has is their gun. When using a firearm, you gain a +2 to your initiative roll. If you were surprised, you may take a turn at the end of the surprise round, then going in turn normally afterwards. You can use this feature twice, regaining your uses after completing a long rest. Hunter Specialty At 3rd level, as an Eldritch Hunter you choose the way you prefer to fight whether it be up close with a blade or from a distance with a gun. Choose an Archetype from below. Turn Aberration At 3rd level, As an action, each Aberration that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage. A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can't willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can't take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there's nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action. Ability Score Improvement When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by +2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by +1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature. Destroy Aberration Starting at 5th level, when an Aberration of CR 1/2 or lower fails its saving throw against your Turn Aberration feature, the creature is instantly destroyed. The CR of undead increases as you gain levels. Eldritch Hunter Level ----- Destroys Aberration of CR... 5th -------------------------------- 1/2 or lower 8th -------------------------------- 1 or lower 11th ------------------------------- 2 or lower 14th ------------------------------- 3 or lower 17th ------------------------------- 4 or lower Hunters Grit At 5th level, speed is the key when facing against horrors that will be out numbering you. Trained to handle such situation. you can Attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on Your Turn. The number of attacks increases to three when you reach 11th level in this class and to four when you reach 20th level in this class. Marked At 6th level, to know where your prey is, is a big part of being a hunter as such Eldritch Hunter have learned to mark their prey. You can cast hunter's mark three times a day between long rest. Arcane Weapon At 6th level, you have found a way to infuse elemental damage into their weapon. After a long rest you can choose from Fire, Ice, Acid, Force, Lightning, Necrotic, Psychic, or Radiant. Until the their next long rest all damage done by the weapon is considered magical and on top of normal damage the weapon does 1d6 of the chosen elemental damage. You can only have 2 weapons infused with arcane power. At 15th level, After a long rest, you can choose from Fire, Ice, Acid, Force, Lightning, Necrotic, Psychic, or Radiant. Until the their next long rest all damage done by the weapon is considered magical and on top normal damage the weapon does 1d12 of the chosen elemental damage. Additionally you can now have 3 weapons infused with arcane power. Mental Condition At 7th level, Because of your training your mind is as sharp as a bear trap. Because of the horrors you have to face an Eldritch Hunter gains advantage on rolls against psychic attacks. You also get advantages on fear rolls. Headshot At 9th level, you have learned how to take better shots. They’ve learned the damage of what a shot to the head can do. You makes a called shot for the head as a normal attack. On a hit, the target takes normal damage, and has disadvantage on attacks for 1 round. You can do this twice between a short or long rest. Arm Shot At 10th level, you learn that they can disarm a foe. On a hit the foe drops 1 item of you choice. You can do this twice between long rest. Hidden At 13th level, you has embraced the darkness of the places where their prey live. They use it to their advantage moving with silent steps and sticking to the shadows they become almost invisible. You get advantage to all stealth rolls. Wings Shot At 14th level, you cannot fly so those who can are a problem, luckily you has found ways to even the battlefield. On a hit, the target takes normal damage, and must make a Constitution Saving Throw. (DC = 8 + Proficiency) or plummet to the ground (taking falling damage). You can do this twice, being unable to do it again until you complete a short or long rest. True Hunter At 18th level, blood and gore run down the blade as the horror dies at his/her feet. You training severed them well. Trained to take down such horror his skills against them are at their peak. Eldritch Hunter get advantage to all attacks when using a sword. And cannot have disadvantage on attack rolls with a gun. Archetypes Eldritch Sniper The Eldritch sniper has trained his entire life to using ranged weapons. As such he knows his way around a battlefield to always position himself to be in the best place for optimal damage. Assassinate At 3rd level, during its first turn, you have advantage on attack rolls against any creature that hasn't taken a turn. Any hit the Eldritch Sniper scores against a surprised creature is a critical hit. Quick Step At 6th level, you have the ability to sense and avoid danger. When an attack is made against you as a reaction you gain a +2 to AC. You can do this a number of times equal to your Dex modifier per long rest. Narrow Escape At 11th level, your instinctive agility lets you dodge out of the way of area effects, When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail. Snipers Sense At 15th level, as an Eldritch Sniper, you need to know your enemies positions. For 10 min every day you have the ability to sense any Creature except constructs within 200 feet of you. You must take a long rest to gain this ability back. You can do this twice per long rest at level 20. Multiclassing Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the Eldritch class, you must meet these prerequisites: 15 Wisdom. Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the Eldritch Hunter class, you gain the following proficiencies: one Eldritch Hunter skill of your choice. 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